In the past few years I've been coming across a trivia tidbit that actress Hedy Lamarr was the owner of the one of the Salzburg villas where the Sound of Music was filmed. It's mentioned on the IMDB as trivia and many other web pages as well, but never with any specific attribution or even the name of which villa, and I've yet to find an 'official' wesbite mention it or give details.
Does anyone have anything concrete regarding this? Does she claim it in her biography? (That may be suspect too, since it was ghostwritten and she sued the authors for misrepresentation.) I even emailed her children, at addresses I found for her, but I haven't heard back.
There's conflicting stories too of just when she owned it. Some say it was in the 60's while the movie was being filmed, others in the 30's when she was married to Fritz Mandl, a wealthy Salzburg businessman.
The closest I can get to tying her to the movie is that in the early 30's she was under the tutelage of Max Reinhardt, who restarted the Salzburg Festivals in 1920 and at which the Von Trapp's sang in 1936. Reinhardt owned Schloss Leopoldskron, a palace that is often credited on tours as the site of some of the outdoor scenes of the film, though some sites say the filming in reality took place on the grounds next door. It's possible that Lamarr stayed with Reinhardt for some time, but I've no proof; in any event she was not the owner of this particular villa.
My suspicion is that the story is not true and that perhaps the origin is Salzburg tour guides, who often fudge details, exchanging Reinhardt for his more interesting protégé Lamarr.
I know it's a longshot but if anyone has any information to confirm or deny, please let me know!
Many thanks, Matt/Datsmeharse
Help with Hedy Lamarr and the Sound of Music
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